2) Why are the 49ers looking into hiring Mangini, yet, apparently, had no interest in signing former Nevada head coach Chris Ault as an offensive consultant. Ault went to Kansas City where he could indoctrinate Alex Smith into his pistol offense, which the 49ers used often last season with Kaepernick. The pistol is a modified spread formation, with the quarterback about 4 yards from the center and the running back hidden behind the quarterback.

The pistol is appealing to the NFL because the running game is still valid, unlike the spread, where running plays are more limited.

Seemingly, it would make more sense for the 49ers to be interested in Ault and not Mangini. For example, If they had stuck with the pistol during those infamous last four offensive plays in the Super Bowl, they might be reigning champions right now.

Ault turned Kaepernick into the first quarterback in NCAA history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in three straight seasons. But it wasn’t easy, and Ault is an old-fashioned coach prone to constantly lambasting his quarterback. Kaepernick said he needed to watch cartoons to wash Ault’s fiery edicts out of his head. Maybe that’s why the 49ers were uninterested in hiring him.